Just crumbs...if that's what is left after a meal, I would be a happy girl - especially if I'm the one that made the meal! This website is all about food - unadulterated, unfussy, unassuming food that anyone can enjoy and (I think) anyone can make. Good food is about being comfortable in the kitchen and working outside your comfort zone...because unless you burn it, most things can be rescued.

I love roasted peppers....I mean, LOVE!They are so sweet and you can do a million things with them (puree them and add them to some stock to make a soup, add the puree to tomato sauce to make the best pasta sauce ever, put them in a sandwich, put them in a food processor with a hunk of feta for the most amazing veggie dip...I'm telling you, they rock!). When you do them in a larger quantity like this, they are ready (without the mess) at a moments notice, they are full of goodness (because they were picked at their nutritional peak) and they are good for the environment (because you got them from a local farm and they didn't have to come to you from Peru where they will come from in February).But, when I think of roasted peppers, I think of a simple side dish that my mom used to make when I was a kid...strips of roasted peppers with chopped parsley and garlic, olive oil and sliced boiled potatoes...all from her garden! It reminds me of the heat of the summer, playing in the backyard and careless days. Who wouldn't want to eat something that reminds them of that??So, reminiscing, I called my mom and dad and asked if they wanted to do a bushel with me. My mom is still busy tending her own garden so my dad came to help.

I stopped by a farm in Uxbridge to buy a bushel of peppers (sorry but I didn't get the name of the farm...I was rushing home from teaching a class and just grabbed a box and ran!!). The farmer told me he had one box left and, for $20, I took it! You can buy Sheppard peppers (the long ones) but, although they tend to be easier to peel, they have less flesh, so if you don't watch them, they can disintegrate on the grill! These are red bell peppers...good all purpose peppers.

It turned out to be 1 and 1/9th of a bushel so I thought I did pretty good!

I brought it home and my dad helped me wash them all.

Pretty easy process....throw them on the grill...

...and when they are charred on all sides, put them on a rack to drain any liquid and get cool enough to handle (a cookie cooling rack on a cookie sheet works well).

The skin came off of these peppers really easily but sometimes I put the peppers into paper bags to cool (the steam from the closed bag helps to soften the skin so it becomes loose)....but we skipped that step this time!

Take the stem and seeds out and open them up flat....

....just like this!

And guess what? My dad brought me another bushel (these are sheppard peppers like I was talking about before)...why make a mess and only do ONE bushel? Smart guy!! These ones will be prepared differently. Since they are so flavourful, we will slice and freeze this bushel to use for fried peppers (so yummy when you want fried onions and peppers to top a veal sandwich!!)...again just dump into a pan a fry up when you need them...easy peasy!!

cut them in half and take out the stem and seeds.

Then slice them into thin strips and place them into Ziploc bags (I should really get shares in Ziploc, no??)

Here they are...in all their pepper glory! The front bags are roasted and the bags in the back are raw and sliced...already steaming from the heat of the sun. Look out for some incredible pepper recipes coming soon!!And, on the 27th of September, a gloriously sunny day made this job a very easy one...a day to remember my childhood, spend time with my dad and make some really healthy stuff that I can use in the months ahead.Today was a good day...